Mwaanga's extraordinary lies
Mwaanga's extraordinary liesBy Editor
Wednesday April 11, 2007 [04:00]
Vernon Mwaanga and his stooges at the Times of Zambia and the Zambia Daily Mail should not take people for fools. We know Mwaanga is coming from Chiluba’s ‘school of engineering’ but he should realise that even lies have got limits. Mwaanga is such a crooked and shameless liar that he can’t even see that his own lies have now caught up with him and are about to consume him. He has continued to lie with a very straight face.
And as if this is not enough, he has even ‘recruited’ the Times of Zambia and Daily Mail to consolidate his lies. How shameful! Today the Times and Daily Mail are wondering what the controversy is about Mwaanga’s statement in the DRC concerning Katanga Province governor Moses Katumbi because as far as they are concerned, there is nothing substantially different from what Mwaanga said in Parliament last week and the transcript we published from his video footage.
We provided all media organisations with Mwaanga’s video in the DRC so they could see for themselves and inform the public accordingly.
ZNBC did not want to tell lies by manipulating the truth to suit Mwaanga’s agenda so they decided not to show the video. This is not good but it is definitely not as shameful as the Times or Daily Mail’s feeble attempt to portray Mwaanga as being consistent with the truth.
We think that this issue is not about semantics.
And since the Times and Daily Mail do not seem to know what controversy there is about Mwaanga’s statement in the DRC, we want to show them this controversy in very plain language.
This is how the controversy started. Last Wednesday, we published a story quoting a newspaper from the DRC stating that Mwaanga had told a press briefing in the DRC that it is in fact the Zambian government that owes Katumbi US $7 million for the maize he supplied in 2001.
This statement prompted Luapula PF member of parliament Peter Machungwa to raise a point of order in Parliament, asking if Mwaanga was in order to suggest that Katumbi was innocent when Vice-President Rupiah Banda had earlier told the House that the law would visit Katumbi if he came to Zambia.
Machungwa wanted to know if Mwaanga was in order to confuse the House, the nation and the international community on Katumbi’s cases.
In his response, Mwaanga read out what he claimed was a verbatim transcript of the interview he gave in the DRC. In this transcript, Mwaanga denied ever stating that it is in fact the Zambian government that owes Katumbi US $7 million. He said he was only aware that Katumbi and his business partner Paul Steele had sued the government for US $7million for the maize they CLAIM to have supplied the government.
The following day, the Times led with this statement with a banner headline: “Katumbi owed nothing” while the Daily Mail’s headline was “Katumbi’s US $7 million claim in court.”
We maintained that Mwaanga was not misquoted and went further to provide the video as evidence. In fact, this video has even proved that Mwaanga presented a doctored transcript to Parliament.
Below we reproduce some of these contradictions just to show how Mwaanga and his Times of Zambia and the Daily Mail are allergic to truth.
“Question: Tell us what was the purpose of your visit?
Mwaanga: Well, first of all I want to say how happy I am to be in Lubumbashi. I have been coming to the Congo since 1965 and I have been here many, many, many times. And after my meetings with his Excellency the President, I felt that I could not go back home without paying a courtesy call on my brother, the governor of Katanga Province.
We discussed a number of bilateral issues and issues which we are familiar with along our borders, but which I am happy to say have been resolved because there is capacity both on the part of the government of the Congo and on the part of government of Zambia to resolve them.
These are two sister states which share a very long boundary, 1,700 kilometres and which have lived in peace with one another since Zambia attained independence in 1964. So these are the issues, which I discussed with the government.
Question: (Asked in French and interpreted in English) Reading Zambian newspapers and some developments about Katanga and its governor are not really fair. Is there anything wrong that the governor of...the government of Zambia is against what the governor of Katanga has done sometimes back maybe or why do they treat him or consider him as a criminal?
Mwaanga: It is unthinkable for us as Zambian government to consider a distinguished and senior member of the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo as a criminal...that is totally out of question. The Zambian press and particularly the private press; not so much the public media…
Question: Especially the newspaper called The Post...
Mwaanga: The Post is a private newspaper. I would like to urge you not to read too much into what The Post says because when it reports on these issues there is an element of exaggeration. There is an element of blowing issues out of proportion with a view of creating misunderstandings between us and the government of Congo.
Governor Katumbi is a senior member of the government of President Kabila and the two governments enjoy very warm relations of brotherhood and fraternity which have withstood the test of time in the past and I would like to urge you that in the laws of Zambia there is a...
the justice system in Zambia is based on the presumption of innocence until proven guilty.
As far as government is concerned, there is nothing that I can attribute to governor Katumbi. All I can say is that governor Katumbi has sued the government of Zambia.
HE IS OWED money by the government of Zambia and he has sued the government for US $7 million for maize which he supplied to the Zambian government in the year 2001.
And this matter is in the courts of law in Zambia as I speak to you now. So I would encourage you not to read too much into what the newspapers are saying. And I can say that with confidence because I am a former editor-in-chief of the Times of Zambia myself.
I was editor-in-chief of the Times of Zambia and I am very familiar with newspapers and as Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services and chief government spokesman, I know what happens in the newspaper business and I would invite you not to take too much notice of what appears in the newspapers because there are a lot of exaggerations and distortions.
Question: Maybe the last question Sir, we are reading a book written by you on the extraordinary life of Vernon Johnson Mwaanga. Are you saying that you are still strong to be in politics since you have been there since 21?
Mwaanga: laughs I joined politics in 1960 as a freedom fighter and I joined government in 1964 and I am still in the government. I am hoping that in terms of the job that I am doing, I served as minister under three presidents, President Kaunda, President Chiluba and now President Mwanawasa.
I still have a lot of energy. I will be 63 in June and if I was in China I would be considered a new generation of politicians but in Africa I suppose when you are 63 they think that you are old.
There are many leaders I know who are much, much older than myself. I still have energy to be able to provide the services to the country for as long as the country wants my service. I have never turned my back on my country or on Africa for that matter.
Question: Thank you very much, Sir.
Answer: Thank you, thank you (then hugs Katumbi three times then tells journalists: "I'm glad you've been reading my book...)”
Now compare the above text with what Mwaanga claimed in Parliament was the verbatim transcript of his interview.
“Mwaanga: After my one-on-one meeting with President Joseph Kabila as well as my whole delegation, with the Governor of Katanga Province Mr Moses Katumbi, I was asked the following questions by the press.
Question: Hon Minister, what did you discuss with President Kabila?
Mwaanga: I am a special envoy of President Levy Mwanawasa, the President of Zambia who directed me to deliver a message to his brother, President Joseph Kabila. I have just done that. Issues involving Heads of State are not for press consumption.
Question: Hon Minister, have you discussed the border situation with President Kabila and Governor Katumbi?
Mwaanga: I have discussed this matter with the Minister of Interior, Minister of Mines, the Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Governor Katumbi and I believe that we have structured a resolution, which will be in the best interest of DRC and Zambia.
Question: Did you discuss the question of Governor Katumbi's cases of theft while he was living in Zambia with President Kabila?
Mwaanga: No, I did not because my President Mr Levy Mwanawasa has now directed that this issue of Mr Katumbi should be removed from the public domain and dealt with at the highest diplomatic level possible. Mr Katumbi is a senior member of President Kabila's government and I do not have mandate to discuss his situation.
Question: There are reports that Governor Katumbi stole a lot of money in Zambia and that he is also claiming that the Zambian government owes him money for the maize he supplied them during the elections in 2001.
Mwaanga: I have already stated that I cannot go into details of Mr. Katumbi's cases which are pending in Zambia because President Mwanawasa had directed that these should be handled in a different way.
I am, however, aware that Governor Katumbi together with his business colleague Mr Paul Steele, have sued the Zambian government for a sum of US $7 million for maize which they claim to have supplied to the Zambian government in 2001.
This matter in pending in the Zambian courts of law and under our justice system, I am not allowed to comment on matters which are before the courts of law.
Question: Is there anything else you would like to say Hon Minister?
Answer: No. Thank you very much. I can only hope that you will quote me correctly. I would like to thank the Government of DRC for the warm welcome they have accorded me and my delegation since our arrival in Kinshasa and here in Lubumbashi.”
We do not think is it is very difficult for our people to isolate or spot Mwaanga’s lies in these two transcripts; compare the questions and answers.
This is the controversy which we think is well settled. Mwaanga has been exposed for what he is – a shameless liar. Even after watching the video, he still insists that there is nothing wrong or different in the two transcripts.
It looks like Mwaanga is wedded to lies. Lies and Mwaanga are inseparable until death do them part.
If Mwaanga were a man of integrity, he would have owned up a long time ago and apologised to the people of Zambia for this embarrassment he has caused the country. Zambia must be a laughing stock on the international scene for having pathological liars as Cabinet ministers; ministers who plead not guilty even after they have been caught in the act.
It is no longer in dispute: Mwaanga consciously told lies in the DRC. We say this because everyone knows that Katumbi fled Zambia about five years ago, running away from the Task Force that has been pursuing him.
President Levy Mwanawasa even went to Parliament to expose the plunder that Katumbi, together with Katebe Katoto, was alleged to have been involved in. Recently, the Task Force on Corruption auctioned some of the properties confiscated from Katumbi and his companies.
Now Mwaanga is saying it is unthinkable for the Zambian government, or indeed Levy, to consider Katumbi a criminal. In our view, what is unthinkable is Mwaanga’s careless statements.
We wonder if Mwaanga was in charge of his senses when he said what he said in the DRC or he suffered temporary insanity. Indeed, Mwaanga has lived an extraordinary life. A fake and manipulative life! A life full of lies, extraordinary lies.
Some people say Mwaanga has many political lives. We wonder if he has not exhausted them with the latest lies from the DRC.
Labels: EDITORIAL, VERNON MWAANGA
posted by MrK @ 5:32 AM
3 Comments:
The only thing the POST has not mentioned is that this is "Vernon Johnson Never say no Mwaanga" self confessed drug trafficker....
Levy's hands must surely be tied or VJ now has a strangle hold on him.
Who is running Zambia thats the qtn?
fighting corruption is an MMD euphemism, it really means how to perfect it, the problem is living in the digital error were you can instantly get information, Vj is not a seasoned Politician he's the crook whose managed to kill innocent zambians, if hes still in government I wonder who or what he protects, what katumbi is describing is unethical as can be!
Who is running Zambia?
It seems like President Mwanawasa is responsible for everything, but doesn't actually know what is going on in his own government.
How could he have been surprised by the assignment of land to his own daughter? I'm sure he didn't set out to embarrass himself when going after corruption in the ministry of lands.
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